Season Summary
For 1970 following the agreement with Simca, Tyrrell were asked by Matra to use their V12 rather than the Cosworth. Stewart tested the Matra V12 and found it inferior to the DFV. As a large part of the Tyrrell budget was provided by Ford, and another significant element came from French state-owned petroleum company Elf, which had an agreement with Renault that precluded supporting a Simca partner, Ken Tyrrell had little alternative (due to clashing sponsorship deals) but to buy March 701 chassis as interim solution while developing his own car in secret; the first Tyrrell bore much resemblance to the MS80.
The new wedge-shaped Lotus 72 was a very innovative car featuring torsion bar suspension, hip-mounted radiators, inboard front brakes and an overhanging rear wing. The 72 originally had suspension problems, but when dive and squat were designed out of the suspension the car quickly showed its superiority. Lotus' new leader, the Austrian Jochen Rindt, dominated the championship until he was killed at Monza when he crashed into some poorly installed crash barriers right before the Parabolica corner. He took the 1970 title posthumously for Lotus. Jacky Ickx won the Austrian, Canadian and Mexican Grands Prix to come second in the drivers' championship, having re-joined Ferrari from Brabham. Had he won the United States Grand Prix instead of Brazilian newcomer Emerson Fittipaldi, Ickx would have been crowned champion.
The German Grand Prix was originally supposed to be held at the Nürburgring. Jochen Rindt, representing the GPDA (Grand Prix Driver's Association), visited the track with a list of requests to make the long and dangerous track safer, but the organizers did not comply. At a GPDA meeting at a hotel in London after the memorial services of Piers Courage and Bruce McLaren, a vote was cast to determine whether to race there and the vote went against racing at the Nürburgring. The German Grand Prix was hastily switched to Hockenheim, which had already been brought up to safety standards.
1970 saw the introduction of slick tyres by Goodyear.
Triple champion Jack Brabham retired at the end of the year.
Briton Piers Courage was killed at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, driving a Frank Williams-entered De Tomaso.
No less than eight past or future world champions participated in the season: Jackie Stewart, Denny Hulme, Mario Andretti, John Surtees, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Graham Hill and Jack Brabham.
Read more about this topic: 1970 Formula One Season
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